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Of the 354 teams, 199 or 56% have launched after competing at the Rice Business Plan Competition. Of the companies that have launched, 128 or 64% are still in business or have exited successfully.

First place winners at the past 11 Rice Business Plan Competitions have raised $111 million in capital funding. In other words, 3% of the past competitors have raised 25% of the total $450 million in funds raised by all 354 teams.

Finalists, those teams ranked 1 to 6 in past competitions, have raised $269 million in funding. In other words, this 18% of RBPC alumni have raised 60% of the total funds raised.

Nicholas brings experience in delivering technology solutions to media companies, advertisers, and agencies. Nicholas has been a serial-entrepreneur since his first startup concept was funded and he left his software-development position at Deloitte Consulting . Since that time he has worked to refine his business skills, serving at different times as CTO, CEO, and Founder of Auditude, a top-tier venture backed startup with over $20 million in financing.

Nicholas Seet is the founder of Auditude (www.auditude.com), a Los Angeles startup that develops media tracking technology. Auditude's products are used both for ad tracking on television and radio stations, as well as for checking for copyrighted content on web sites. The firm has an interesting story behind it, having started from an MBA business plan competition. socalTECH's Ben Kuo spoke with Nicholas to get the full story.

Nicholas has been a serial-entrepreneur since his first startup concept was funded and he left his software-development position at Deloitte Consulting. Since that time he has worked to refine his business skills, serving at different times as CTO, CEO, and Founder of Auditude. A part of Auditude (called IntoNow) was spun-off in 2010 and was acquired by Yahoo in 2011. In November that same year, Auditude was acquired by Adobe Systems.

HOUSTON -- (Feb. 9, 2012) – The 2005 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) winner, Auditude, was acquired by Adobe for a reported $120 Million.Auditude was the inaugural winner of the GOOSE Society of Texas Grand Prize in 2005 and is now the first past competitor at the Rice Business Plan Competition to be sold for a market value in excess of $100 million, just six years after winning at Rice. Instrumental to the success of Auditude was the investment of the GOOSE Society of Texas, a group founded by Dr. Jack M. Gill and five other successful entrepreneurs. While the grand prize in 2005 was pegged at $100,000, the GOOSE investors ultimately decided to invest over $1.1 million in Auditude, giving the company the funding it needed to successfully build the company.

FORTUNE -- In the booming B-school business plan competition circuit, aspiring entrepreneurs from top schools go head-to-head for real funding. This week, Fortune is in Houston at the Rice Business Plan Competition, the largest and richest of its kind in the world. Also at Rice this year is Gautam Gandhi, Google's (GOOG) head of new business development in India. Gandhi, who is serving as a competition judge at Rice, has been through the ringer at this competition, taking home the contest's top prize in 2004. His winning company, ClearCount Medical Solutions, tracks the use of surgical instruments in the operating room. It's still in business today.

As a two-time startup founder with a finger on the pulse of the venture scene in the U.S. and abroad, Gandhi spoke to Fortune about the startup climate, his takeaway from the Rice competition, and how to make sure your pitch wows the judges -- or investors.

Thursday, April 12, 2012. 6:30-7:45 PM, Shell Auditorium. All team competed in a 60-second Elevator Pitch Competition highlighting the participants and their companies to all the attendees and officially kicking off the Competition.
#RBPC #RBPC2012

Congratulations to the 42 teams invited to participate in the 2012 Rice Business Plan Competition! Who's Next? On April 12-14, 2012, 42 teams from the world will compete in front of 250 judges for an expected $1.3 million in prizes.
#RBPC #RBPC2012

We know about the 10 kinds of people. (You know, those who can read binary and those who can’t.) This is PC Speak: An Abney and Associates Internet and Technology Research Lab - Technology related to every day life!